


Love at first sectional

by fangirlingbooknerd



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Band camp, Eric POV, F/M, M/M, Marching Band AU, band au, bitty teaches jack beyonce, brass line, chowder is bittys son but so is dex, copious amounts of coffee drinking, early morning sectionials, grocery shopping is actually something that can be so personal, i definitely made jack less of a robot but it works, lots of baking, mutual pining but they dont know its mutual, no one is getting together before chapter nine, there will probably be mentions of shittyxlardo and nurseydex as this progresses, this is a slow slow burn, we're talking about kent now
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-12
Updated: 2020-05-06
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:22:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 18,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23613724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fangirlingbooknerd/pseuds/fangirlingbooknerd
Summary: They don't fall in love at the first sectional... well, maybe Bitty does a little.Bitty joins the Samwell University marching band as a favor to Lardo in the middle of season his freshman year. He didn't expect to like it so much. He comes back his sophomore year determined to finally learn how to play an instrument and to make his section leader, Jack, proud. Through band camps, rehearsals, performances, and many, many one-on-one sectionals, these two dorks fall in love.(This is so much longer than I ever wanted it to be, but here we are.)
Relationships: Derek "Nursey" Nurse/William "Dex" Poindexter, Eric "Bitty" Bittle/Jack Zimmermann, Larissa "Lardo" Duan/Shitty Knight
Comments: 30
Kudos: 45





	1. Band Camp: Day One

**Author's Note:**

> This is purely self indulgent. Marching band here based on my high school marching band. Rip to any woodwind players bc there will probably be no mentions of woodwinds in this fic. 
> 
> Again, they don't actually fall in love at first sectional, I just thought that it would be a cute title.

Last September, Eric Bittle joined the marching band as a quick favor for Lardo and he was starting to regret it. One of the mellophone players quit in the middle of September, so Lardo called Bitty in to fill the dot. “Look, I know you know how to read drill. You did color guard for four years in high school. You don’t even have to play the mello, just hold it! I just don’t wanna look sloppy, marching with a hole in our drill.” Reluctantly, Bitty agreed. He ended up loving it. Despite not actually playing, everyone was very nice to him, and he made friends he was sure he’d talk to for the rest of his life. The only hiccup was Jack Zimmermann. Leader of the mello section and a total prick. He hated Bitty’s guts, and it probably didn’t help that Bitty marched without playing last year, meaning Jack and Johnson (the other mello player) had to work twice as hard. 

This year, though, Bitty was an official member of the marching band. He showed up in August for band camp like the rest of them, and this year he was going to learn how to play mellophone.

He missed color guard, he really did, but he was excited to try something new. And if it meant not having legs and arms completely covered in bruises from missed catches, that was an added bonus. 

The only person not excited for Bitty to learn mello was Jack Zimmermann, his teacher. Jack offered to give Bitty (or “Bittle” as Jack called him) private lessons every single morning, yet still seemed grumpy all the time. Bitty suspected he was still bitter about last season. The person who had to leave was Camila Collins, his girlfriend, and he heard that the two had shorty broken up after the incident. Here comes in this tiny blonde man to replace her, and he can’t even play! It just served as more motivation for Bitty to work harder, do better. 

Bitty made sure to give all of himself into learning this marching show. The early part of band camp is always basics, thankfully, and Bitty lost himself in the familiar movements. The warmup stretches they did were similar to the ones he used to do, and the same as the ones last year. Last season they gave him a quick run down of the way to march (knees straight, toes up, elbows out, chin at 15 degrees), but he’d secretly spent all year practicing, waiting for the chance to impress Jack. 

When it was time for his line to cross (just a simple 8 to 5) the band techs called out their approval. He looked to Jack for approval, but he kept staring straight ahead, awaiting their next instruction. Bitty sighed; how was he supposed to impress Jack if he wouldn’t even look at him! 

Whatever, at least he was actually improving. The techs don’t just throw around compliments. Another silver lining was that Bitty already knew how to read drill. He could easily find his spot AND help some of the new freshman on high brass line. Most people in the band had done marching before, but there were a couple that were clearly hopelessly confused. Jack was already giving the new trumpets the stink eye, so Bitty went there first, shooting Jack a meaningful look that was ignored. 

“Hey, do y’all want some help?” Bitty asked the trumpets. Three heads looked up to stare at him. 

The first to recover was a boy with the coolest tattoos Bitty had ever seen. “Uh, yea, thanks. I’m Derek, Derek Nurse. I went to a tiny private school so we didn’t have a marching band or anyth-“

“He doesn’t need your whole life story, just show him the drill,” the redhead interrupted. The third boy sighed, accidentally showing off his set of braces. 

“Shut it, no one asked you, Poindexter.” 

“Hey hey now,” Bitty broke in, “there’s no need to resort to name calling. I can help everyone understand their drill. I know I had a super hard time when I first started marching, so I don’t blame y’all for gettin confused. Lemme see your papers.” 

Derek handed his over. “I didn’t call anyone any names. Poindexter is his last name. Can’t help that it fits perfectly.” 

The third boy sighed. “Guys, can we PLEASE stop doing this? We’re gonna be together all season, do you really want to be miserable the entire time? No. So start acting like college kids.” 

“Whoa, Chow, I think that’s the angriest I’ve ever head you,” the redhead, _no Poindexter_ , retorted. 

“Chow’s right,” Bitty agreed. “Feuding with someone in your section is a nightmare.” _I would know, wouldn’t I._ “Derek, you’re almost in the right spot, just a step to the left. Chow, you’re directly behind him. Poindexter, you’re actually on the other side of the 40, so just a couple steps to the right. Great, well, lovely meeting y’all.” 

That took way longer than Bitty expected, but they got there eventually. Jack was giving him an unreadable look. _Well_ , Bitty thought glumly, _at least he’s looking at me now._ The rest of camp progressed in the same fashion, Bitty trying to hard to impress Jack, and failing miserably. But, on the bright side, he befriended the three newbies. He found out that Derek Nurse was from Andover and that he was an English major. William Poindexter was from Maine and raised Republican, but trying hard not to be. Chris Chow was from California and the biggest San Jose Sharks fan there ever was. 

Bitty was stoked when he found out that Chris was into hockey. “No way, I love hockey! I actually used to do a little hockey too!”

Chris practically squealed. “No way! I played goalie for a team back home!” 

Bitty caught Jack eavesdropping this conversation but was too afraid to call him out on it. Working on visual was the easy part for Bitty. He’d been a dancer and a figure skater for so long that it was easy for him to manipulate his body any way he needed to. What he didn’t have a ton of practice with was playing an instrument with such a dumb mouthpiece. Or any instrument, really, but still!

When the techs called out that it was time for sectionals, Bitty braced for the worst. All the new freshman on Mello line had done marching band in high school, leaving Bitty as the only newbie. Plus, since Samwell was tiny, there were only four mellos total. It’s still more than there were last year, but Bitty is still worried. 

“Alright, everybody. In case you forgot, I’m Jack, your section leader. I’m a senior this year which means one of you will get to be section leader next year. I get to pick. Keep that in mind as we progress throughout the season. Let’s starting with just a simple tuning note so we can start finding balance as a section.” Jack pauses to pull up a tuner app on his phone. “Everyone play a G.” 

Bitty can tell right away that one of these notes does not sound like the others. He can also tell that it’s his horn. Grimacing, he pulls back, pretending to fiddle with the pipes on his horn. 

Jack sighs. “Our G, Bittle, not a concert G.” 

“Oh, right, of course.” Bitty replied, as if that was the problem. _I knew I should’ve rented out that mello throughout the year!_

They played a G again, and still Bitty stuck out like a sore thumb. Jack sighed, again. “Okay so here’s what we’re going to do. Here’s the warm up chorale that we’re going to play later as an ensemble.” He turns to the new freshman. “Why don’t you two start looking at this, you’re sounding great. Bittle, you come with me, we have some work to do.” 

Bitty internally groaned but smiled at Jack anyway. At least he would be spending some time with him; maybe he could finally win him over with his charm. 

Jack and Bitty went to the side. Bitty held his horn up, ready for whatever Jack was gonna throw at him. Instead, Jack surprised him. “Lower your horn, first we’re discuss the basics of the notes. You’ve never played an instrument before, right?” He paused as Bitty nodded in confirmation. “So that means you have no idea what a G is supposed to sound like. I’m gonna play a note a couple times, and when you feel ready, I want you to try to mimic it. I’m not expecting you to get it right on the first try, but I wanna hear you change your embouchure to try to find the right pitch.” 

Jack breathed in and played the first note he ever learned, a G. He held it out for about five seconds before turning to Bitty. “That’s a G. I’m gonna start playing it in longer bursts. Jump in when you can.” Jack resumed his playing. 

After about five more Gs, Bitty finally tried one. Jack did his best not to grimace as Bitty played a completely wrong note. It sounded like a really flat C, which would be great if that’s the note they were aiming for. Bitty then tried pinching his mouth more, which just made the pitch higher. Jack stayed silent, wanting him to figure it out on his own. Finally, Bitty tried relaxing his embouchure, and the pitch got closer and closerandcloserand THERE! He had it! 

Bitty looked at Jack excitedly, meeting his eyes over his Mello bell. Jack stopped playing and smiled. “That was it, Bittle! Let’s do it again.” 

Bitty grinned. If he did it once, he could certainly do it again. 


	2. Band Camp: Day Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end of band camp means solidifying friendships and planning for what comes next.

Bitty watched fascinated as Dex ate only the green and yellow Skittles from the bag. It didn’t make sense until Nursey sat down next to Dex and started to eat only the orange and purple ones. “So who gets the red ones?” Bitty asked. 

Both Nursey and Dex looked up. “What,” Dex asked, with his mouth full of Skittles. 

“Damn, Dex, who raised you? Don’t talk with your mouth full,” Nursey replied with his own mouth full, nudging Dex playfully. 

Dex rolled his eyes. “The red ones are for Chowder. They’re his favorite.” 

Bitty nodded, sort of understanding. He’d become surprisingly close with the new trumpets over the past week. They even had nicknames for each other! He wished his progress was Jack was this good. The two had been working closely all week, trying to help Bitty learn how to play the mellophone. Bitty had made a lot of progress on the horn which excited him, but he didn’t expect to like spending time with Jack so much. He’s such a hardass, but Bitty loves it how Jack smiles when he does something right and how he calls him bud and how he always wears these dumb baseball caps and how blue his eyes are and- 

“Hey, everyone,” Jack says, coming to sit down next to Bitty. _Speak of the devil and it shall appear._ “Mind if we join you?” Tearing his eyes away from Jack, Bitty sees that he’s brought a whole group of people. There’s Lardo, the drum major, who is even shorter than he is but ten times as scary. There’s Shitty, who actually asks to be called Shitty, who wears the shortest shorts Bitty has ever seen a man wear. There’s two tuba players that Bitty has never spoken to before. He doesn’t even know their real names, because the two are constantly calling each other nicknames. 

Dex stares at Bitty with wide eyes. Nursey recovers first. “Yeah, it’s all chill. I’m Nursey, what’s up?” 

“Sick, I’m Shitty.” Shitty plops down next to Jack, shaking the whole table. 

Lardo sits down next to him. “You guys should all know that I’m Larissa by this point.” Shitty nudges her, clearly expecting her to do something. She sighs. “It’s gonna get out anyway, but my nickname is Lardo.” She turns to Shitty. “I just wanted them to respect me for two seconds, since someone wanted to give me such a shitty nickname.” She pauses, realizing what she said. Both she and Shitty burst out laughing as he gives her a noogie. _Oh_ , Bitty thinks, _he likes her. He’s super touchy._

The two tubas sit by Dex and Nursey. “The name is Justin Oluransi, but my friends call me Ransom,” says one with a wink. He slings an arm around his friend. “This right here is the most beautiful man you will ever meet, my genuine soul mate, my other half, Adam Birkholtz, but you can call him Holster.” Holster waves, having already started eating.

Jack turns to Bitty. “Hey, I hope you don’t mind that we crashed your lunch like this,” he says lowly. 

Bitty waves it off. “Don’t even worry about it. I’m excited to meet your friends. I was wondering if you had any besides your mello,” he teases. Jack chuckles and Bitty feels alive. _Oh no, this could be a problem._ The two run through all the basic small talks—weather, moving in, how band camp was going—before moving on to school.

“What classes are you taking this year?” 

Bitty lists them off, stopping when Jack brightens at the mention of his food class. “How’d you get into that seminar? It’s an upperclassmen seminar and that professor is known to be tough!” 

“Well, I may have baked a pie to show how dedicated I was to the course.”

Jack smiles. “Well, I guess I’ll have someone to sit next to in class.” 

Bitty startles. “YOU’RE IN THAT CLASS?”

Jack pats his shoulder comfortingly. “Yeah, bud, I’m a history major.” He stills and pulls his hand away. “Unless you don’t want to sit next to me, which you totally don’t have to, I just thought…” he trails off. 

“No, no, of course I wanna sit next to you! I was just surprised, that’s all.” Bitty smiles at him reassuringly, and his stomach swoops when Jack smiles back. _Oh no. Did I really just fall for a straight boy? It’s gonna be a long semester._

From across the table, Lardo stands up. “Well, this has been fun, but lunch is over. Let’s get back to work!” She turns back to Shitty. “That includes you, you bozo, because if you skip sectionals again to smoke weed I’m telling the band director on you… unless you share this time.” Shitty grins. 

Bitty waves goodbye to everyone, following Jack back to the mellophones. He grins, ready for his solo sectional with Jack. 

“Bitty, since you’ve made so much progress this week, I think you’re ready to join the rest of the section again. I’ve heard you play the opener, and it sounds really solid, well as solid as can be expected after four days of practice. Now it’s time to just work out section balance, though most of that is just figuring out how loud we can play as a section with no one splatting.” 

Bitty’s heart sinks. “Oh, cool, glad to have made so much progress.” He really is happy that he’s pulling his own weight this year, but he hates that it means that he won’t get one-on-one time anymore. 

Something must show on his face, because Jack continues. “If you’re worried about the rest of the season, don’t, okay? I’m happy to keep up our own little sectionals for the rest of the show since I know you’re new to this.” 

That makes Bitty feel better, but definitely not as good as he feels when he plays with the rest of the section and he sees Jack grin, pleased with how they all sound. Bitty knows that last season was really rough for him, but this season he has an actual team of people to work with, and wow do they sound good. Even Bitty is impressed. 

“If we keep this up, I bet the composers will write in a mello feature for us!” Jack exclaims. The freshman whoop and high five each other. For the first time, Bitty is really glad that Lardo made him join. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I still love this fic even though literally no one cares. Sorry for the short chapter, but I'm working on some long ones now. This is my magnum opus. Well, maybe not lol, but it is the one AU that I've always wanted to see for this fandom. (If you know of a marching AU fic for check, please! send it my way and I'll love you forever. Any ship is fine.)


	3. First week of school: preparation

Bitty gets three whole days to completely stop thinking about marching band start worrying about school. He spends his time stocking up on pens and pencils and notebooks. He even buys a planner, telling himself that THIS is the year he gets organized, like for real this time. Cracking open the new planner, he smiles, inhaling the scent of fresh paper and the feeling of the beginning of something new. Carefully, he jots down his class schedule and marching band practices into his calendar. He means to just do September, but ends up going through the entire fall semester, lost in the simplicity of the task and the soothing sound of pen on paper.

He only loses focus when his phone dings. It’s a text from Jack. Wait. It’s a text from JACK! There goes the tranquil mood. With shaky hands, he caps his pen and picks up his phone. It’s not that he’s expecting the text to read something along the lines of “Bitty I’m in love with you and have been since the second I saw you” but, ya know, it COULD be… in Bitty’s fantasy world it is. Instead, the text just says, “Hey. Can we meet at Annie’s? Wanna talk about sectionals.” Bitty’s heart races. _He wants to meet me in person! That’s a good sign right?_ He texts back, maybe quicker than he should, “yeah, when?” _Chill, totally chill. Ugh, now I sound like Nursey_. Thankfully, Jack also responds quickly, “I can be there in fifteen if that works for you.” Bitty sends back a simple thumbs up emoji and scrambles to change his outfit into something nicer than sweats. So much for three whole days without worrying about band. 

It’s still hot out so Bitty feels justified wearing a tank top and some tiny shorts to Annie’s. And if he knows that the tank shows off his arms and the shorts show off his legs, then what’s the harm? Sure, Jack had already seen Bitty in some revealing clothing— _Lord, does it get hot during band camp. Summer is brutal even all the way up in Massachusetts_ —but those were all ratty work out clothes that he didn’t mind getting covered in sweat and sunscreen. These were nice clothes that he knew fit him really well. 

His internal struggle over clothing took longer than he thought, so Bitty finds himself sprinting across campus to Annie’s. _Not even one day of classes and I’m already hauling ass to Annie’s. Go figure_. Despite all of the conditioning he’s done for band, he’s still out of breath by the time he makes it to the coffee shop. In there, he finds Jack sitting with two drinks. _Two drinks_? Walking over, he smiles at Jack and says, “wow, you must be really thirsty, huh?” 

Jack looks up from his phone with a blush. “Oh, uh, actually one of these is for you. I didn’t know what you wanted, so I just asked the barista for the sweetest iced coffee thing that they had. Figured it was a good place to start considering your typical lunches at band.” Bitty rolls his eyes, but smiles. _Yes, maybe I did bring a lot of pastries to band. Maybe I brought a full pie… on more than one occasion. Well, that doesn’t mean—Oh. This is actually what I always order._

Still smiling, Bitty takes a sip before asking, “so… sectionals?”

“Yes. As you may have noticed, you’re at a disadvantage from the rest of the section because you’ve never played an instrument before. You’re still working on the basics while they’re practically experts from years of practice.” Bitty was sure that Jack didn’t mean that harshly but felt tears threatening to prick his eyes anyway. “That being said, I want to offer you some one-on-one help. We’re sounding really good as a section this year. Good enough to win the best section award. We’re overlooked every year, but I think this year we could really stand out. I heard from Lardo that they’re thinking of writing us a mello feature. This is my last chance to to prove myself, but this section isn’t just about me. I’ve got to make sure every player is up to the task.” He pauses, sighing. Bitty nods, waiting. _So that’s what this is really about. Some dumb section award._ “Sorry, I didn’t mean to get so intense. I just really thought we could’ve had this last year, but then Camila just had to—“ he cuts himself off. _Or maybe not such a dumb section award._ “Anyway, I’m willing to personally tutor you in mellophone for the whole semester. You’ve made great progress so far, but we still have a long way to go. What do you say?” 

Bitty nods. Feeing bold, he places a hand on Jack’s arm. “Yeah, I’d really like that. If you think that this is the year that we can win best section, then let’s make it this year. From what I’ve seen, you work harder than just about any other person on this team. It’s about time you got some recognition.” He blushes, pulling his hand away. _Geez, if Jack didn’t know about your pathetic crush on him, then he certainly does now. Could you be any less subtle?_ “When are you free? Here’s my class schedule.” He pulls up the picture of it on his phone. 

Without even looking, Jack says, “I was thinking really early in the morning, that way we can have full access of the practice rooms. They’re really big here, designed for chamber music practices. Thankfully you’re good with marching so I don’t have to worry about finding a large enough space to teach you that.” 

Bitty nods, acting like he knows what “chamber music practices” are. “Um, how early is early?” 

“Depends. When’s your earliest class?” 

“10:00 am.” 

“Then I’ll see you there at 8:00. We’ll go for an hour, still giving you plenty of time to get breakfast before class starts.” Bitty guesses he makes some look of horror because he finally gets a chuckle out of Jack. “Too early for you, eh? Tell you what. It doesn’t have to be every day. When is your 10:00 class?”

“It’s on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, my earliest class isn’t until 1:00 pm.” 

“So how about we just meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays then. That’s actually probably better since regular practice is Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Don’t want you busting your chops… My earliest class is at 11:00 am, so we can meet at 9:00. Or is that still too early for you?” 

It’s still a little early, but he knows that Jack is taking time out of his busy schedule to do this. Plus, even if it’s early in the morning, it’s still one-on-one time with Jack. _They can share sleepy smiles and do an Annie’s run and watch the sunrise— Well maybe not sunrise. Nine is definitely too late for the sun to rise. But still!_ “That works,” he says, taking a sip of his coffee so he won’t show the big, dorky smile that threatens to overtake his face. 

He expects Jack to just up and leave now that they’ve worked out their sectionals plans, but instead, he continues the conversation. “So, tell me again how you bribed your way into the food history class? Because I’ve really heard that that professor is a major hard ass.” 

Before Bitty knows it, his coffee is gone and an hour and a half have passed and his crush on Jack has grown twice as large. He knows that this could be a problem, but he thinks he can keep it under control. It’s worth it. He never thought he’d say this, but he can’t wait for Thursday morning. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you're still here at this point... thank you. And thank you to everyone who has left kudos. It's really appreciated <3


	4. First week of school

Classes on Wednesday went surprisingly well. All of his teachers let him go early, just using this class period to go over the syllabus. He used some of the extra time between classes to get an iced coffee from Annie’s, meaning he was cutting it close to arriving on time to history class. Looking around the room, he saw that the only empty seats were in the way back. However, as he started heading up, he saw that Jack had saved him a seat in the second row. He slid into it right before the teacher stood up, grateful for the good view he had of the board and the even better view of the section leader sitting next to him. 

That night, band practice was canceled. The band directors took pity on them starting school again, knowing that the first week was always rough. Despite that, Bitty organized a band kid dinner. It was going to be the normal routine anyway, and he hadn’t seen the new freshman (which were called the Frogs for some reason) in a couple days. He missed them. Okay, he mostly missed Chowder, but he thought Dex and Nursey were cool too. Well, they were cool when they weren’t arguing. He sent out a text to the trumpets and to Jack, telling them all that dinner was at 6:30 sharp in the dining hall and that they could invite any other band kids that they wanted. 

Bitty wasn’t surprised to see Jack at the dining hall at 6:20. Bitty always liked to show up early to snag a table, something he had learned from watching Jack freshman year. He’d never admit that to Jack, but he liked that this gave him some more alone time with Jack. Those thoughts went out the window when he saw Shitty sit down next to him, closely followed by Lardo. Those two barely on time, usually late, never early. 

He swiped into the dining hall and greeted everybody. “Shitty, Lardo, I’m proud of y’all for being here early. New semester, new you?” 

Shitty whipped around to look at Jack. “You told us dinner was at 6:15! You were so proud that we were here on time while everyone else was late.” 

Jack looked sheepish. “Well, Bitty said dinner was at 6:30 SHARP and I knew that if I said 6:30, you two would show up at 6:45.” 

“That’s fuckin genius, bro,” Lardo replied through a mouth full of food. “I should start using that trick on Shitty. And maybe the rest of band so these practices can start on time for once.” That caused an uproar from all of them, defending their own schedules and how practices went, calming only when the Frogs showed up. 

They all sat at the table with their food: Jack and Bitty and Shitty and Lardo and Dex and Nursey and Chowder. It was nice, peaceful, even. That was until Ransom and Holster showed up a little before 7:00, spewing apologies, talking about how their accounting class ran late and then they had to talk to the TA about office hours because she was a total hottie. Initial craziness aside, the two fit in really nicely to the group, basically modeling the lunch they all had together on the last day of band camp. 

Bitty had loved color guard in high school. He was friends with all the girls, and they were so much nicer than the band kids who took marching waaaaay too seriously. That was until his senior year, when they found out that he wasn’t in color guard to meet girls, but rather because he actually liked dancing. And that, though the rumor was never confirmed, he also liked boys. Most of his friends turned his back on him senior year, and he swore he’d never march again. Yet, Samwell feels so different from his school in Georgia. These band kids are way more chill than the ones back home. Well, all of them except for Jack. He feels like he’s truly fitting in, and he’s already pretty openly gay, and he heard Nursey talk about being bi, so losing friends shouldn’t be an issue. He came out to Lardo last year at a party during first week of his freshman year ( to be fair, he was drunk out of his mind), and she swore up and down that this band would be nothing like his old one when she guilted him into joining last year. She was right. 

_X_

Bitty almost regrets everything when his alarm goes off the next morning. Groggy, he wondered why his alarm was set for this early, until he saw the reminder text Jack had sent him ten minutes ago. _Lord, that boy woke up early_. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he goes through the motions of getting dressed. He leaves himself just enough time to run to Annie’s, crashing into Jack along the way. Literally crashing. He’s so tired that he’s not paying attention to where he’s going. Thankfully, it was just Jack instead of some random kid. 

“Morning, Bittle. You okay?” 

“Yeah, just a bit tired. After my coffee I’ll be right as rain.” 

“Cool. I’ll wait with you.” 

Bitty makes small talk the best he can considering he feels like he can barely keep his eyes open. He knows that he’s extra tired because he was up late last night, stomach jittering at the thought of a private sectional with Jack. This crush has quickly got out of hand, more so than Bitty cares to admit. Thankfully, the line at Annie’s is pretty short so he doesn’t have to keep up the idle chatter for too long. As he sips his coffee, Jack gives him the rundown of what to expect from the sectionals. “We’re gonna start today by doing some long tones, practicing holding the note steady for a long time. It’s the best way to really familiarize yourself with the pitch. From there, we’ll do a scale or two. They’re boring, but always a good warmup, and really easy to hear when a note is wrong. Then, we’ll run the parts of the music that we’ve gotten. I know we’ve been able to get pretty far into it, but you only playing quarter notes and half notes isn’t going to fly in an actual performance. You’re lucky we don’t have a game this week.” 

Bitty nods, sighing on the inside. _So much for sleepy smiles and inside jokes_. Jack is harsh, going full “captain mode” as Bitty likes to call it, or “band robot” as Shitty likes to joke about. _I know I shouldn’t’ve expected him to take it easy on me, I’m the weakest member of the section after all. But I really thought we were making progress—_

“Bittle, you with me?” 

“Huh, uh, yeah, sorry. Just got a little lost in my own head.” 

“It’s okay. We’re about done anyway. How about just one more run through of the opener and we can close up and go to breakfast?”

“Breakfast?”

“Uh, well I always eat before my morning class, it’s the most important meal of the day, after all. I assumed you’d be hungry too, but you don’t have to come.” 

On one hand, Bitty definitely wasn’t hungry for breakfast, and going in would probably be a waste of a meal swipe. On the other hand, this is exactly what he wanted: some time with Jack where he could actually talk to him. Besides, he could always update his meal plan to a higher one. It’s still just the first week. “Yeah, sure that sounds great.” Jack gave Bitty a rare smile.

Bitty didn’t expect breakfast to go so well. He didn’t expect Jack to laugh at his jokes, or grab the last cinnamon roll for him (“I know you like these and they only had one left. If you don’t want it, I can always put it back…”), or even start to talk about how he got into band. Only one meal in, and this had already become his favorite weekly tradition. _No, biweekly_ , he reminded himself. _I get to do this every Tuesday AND Thursday. And he’ll probably be at every single band kid dinner before rehearsal. And in my history class_. Bitty was going to be spending a lot—A LOT—of time with Jack Zimmermann this fall. He hoped that it wouldn’t end in disaster. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you're still reading this, i love you. 
> 
> also for the sake of this AU, the band is just gonna have one show that they do for the whole season. I know college bands switch up their shows a lot but like,,,,,,, i dont wanna write that and there's no way bitty could keep up w that


	5. The first performance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this probably should've been two chapters, and I think I switched tenses a couple times, but I guess it just be like that sometimes.

Bitty thought he had seen just about every quirk there was. When he was in elementary and middle school, he did figure skating, and those people had some very strange pre-performance rituals. He’d seen people eat the same exact snack, or re-tie their laces five different times, or listen to the same song, or a do a handstand, or a tell joke. He had never seen anything like this before, though. 

Nursey was leaning up against a tree. From far away, it looked like he was mediating, but when Bitty got closer, he realized that Nursey was reciting some poetry that Bitty was pretty sure he had read in his AP English class senior year. Bitty expected something inspiring and motivational, but instead found Nursey reciting love poetry. He hung back, not wanting to interrupt whatever Nursey was doing. He remembered the one time he interrupted the shoe tying girl and got yelled at for five minutes because she “had to start all over again!!!!!!”

Bitty crouched down by Nursey, trying to breathe softly. “Whoa!” Nursey opened his eyes and startled at the sight of Bitty next to him. “How long have you been here?” 

“Oh, sorry. Not very long. I was sent to come find you. Dex and Chowder were worried and wanted you to run the trumpet feature from that long holding set… I think they would’ve come themselves but they were too afraid to stop practicing.” 

“Oh, chill. Yeah, I can head over there. Did you, uh, did you hear anything?” 

“Well, I could make out that it was love poetry, but I don’t know what or by whom or about whom, don’t worry. And I won’t pry.”

“Oh, no, I wasn’t thinking of anyone in particular.” 

“Never said you were, sweetheart.”

“Okay, I’m gonna go find the rest of the Frogs now.” Nursey took off, sprinting. 

“Nursey,” Bitty yelled after him, “you’re not supposed to run in uniform!” Nursey kept running. Sighing, Bitty headed that way too. He was sure that the mello section was somewhere near the trumpets. He couldn’t believe their first performance was happening tonight! 

Jack had explained that everyone would get some free time to hang around the band wing because the band always finished dinner before the staff. Once the staff showed up, the band would march out together, and then they’d take their seats in the stands and play throughout the game, and then they’d perform at half time before going back to the stands. The two of them had spent most of today’s rehearsal privately going over the stand tunes. Most of what they were playing was familiar to the other players, and, let’s be real, the new freshman were better than Bitty at mellophone by a long shot. It stung a little, but Bitty just kept reminding himself that they had years of practice and that this was his first time. _I bet they can’t make a pie as good as you. I bet they can’t even make homemade chocolate chips cookies_! He sighed, shaking his upper body. _Just shake it off, buddy._ _It’s just some pre-show insecurities_. He found the freshman players joking around. _Figures, they don’t need to practice. No, no, stop it, that’s not the point. The point is… where’s Jack_? 

He looked left and right but Jack was nowhere to be found. He looked walked around the area, looking for the familiar pair of blue eyes and dark hair. He finally found him far off to the side, lying on the grass next to Shitty. Jack was wearing an easy smile that Bitty had only seen once and twice before, holding hands with Shitty with his eyes closed. It looked like Shitty was saying something, but Bitty couldn’t be sure. He didn’t want to get closer. This looked private, two seniors reflecting on their last opening night. Well, that’s what Bitty assumed anyway. For all he knew, Shitty could be making a joke about farts, but he had faith. Shitty was a sap. 

Bitty thought back to his last first show in his senior year of high school. Some girls were cryingbeforehand, so sad that their favorite activity was about to come to an end. This was before it all went to hell, so even Bitty was nostalgic, already missing the moment that he had yet to live.This was something that had taken up so much of his time and energy. This is where he had met the best and the worst people in his life. He didn’t cry then, but he did cry at the end of the season. He almost thought he wouldn’t, after all his senior year had taken a major turn for the worst, but there was no denying that he would miss the environment that he used to know. But now he had found it again. No, he had something even better. This family wasn’t conditional on him meeting any social standards. Hell, they’d even accepted him when he couldn’t even play a single note! Smiling, he headed back to the other mellophones. He wanted to give Jack and Shitty their alone time. This was big for them, and Bitty wanted nothing more than to make Jack proud tonight. 

Before long, the staff was ready and the band took their place in the stands, ready to watch the Wellies play football. Well, he hoped to avoid watching, really. He used to play football for a little bit, but that ended quickly and poorly. Lord was he glad to get out of Georgia. In Georgia, he would’ve never gotten the chance to sit next to Jack, smushed together in a stadium. They were so close that their thighs were touching. Bitty squealed a little on the inside every time their shoulders brushed. Maybe he wouldn’t hate all the football games. 

His pleasant mood was interrupted by the second quarter ending, meaning it was time to perform. Though he had calmed his nerves, they were back in full force. His hands were shaking by the time he made it down to the field. He took his place on the field, in between Jack and Ransom, waiting for the Lardo’s signal. From behind him, he could hear Holster telling everyone to have a good show. A little to the left, he could hear the Frogs hyping each other up. Feeling bold, he turned to Jack. “Hey, have a great last first show.” 

Jack gave him a small smile. “Thanks, bud. Have a great first real show.” He chuckled. “There’s nothing like opening night. Even though half the stands couldn’t care less, there’s something thrilling about finally showing off all of the hard work you’ve put into this show.” As if she could hear the conversation, Lardo put her arms up, signaling that she was about to begin. 

The entire show was a blur. One second, Bitty saw Lardo cueing the band to start, the next thing he knows, he’s standing in his closing set listening to the audience cheer. He did it! He marched and played—well, sort of played. It’s really hard to play and march at the same time. But he was able to play some notes, more than he usually can in a run through, and certainly a huge improvement from last year. He feels light-headed as he looks around the band and sees the proud looks on everyone’s faces, enhanced by the applause from the stands. He’s pretty sure that the light-headed feeling is giddiness and not dehydration but he makes a mental note to chug some water as soon as he gets back to his seat. 

Chowder has the closest ending dot to Bitty, so he heads there first, giving Chowder a huge hug and congratulations. “How was you run? The trumpet feature sounded incredible!”

“Thanks, Bitty! It was so good! I didn’t miss a single one of my dots and I only fracked, like, three notes, and I definitely NAILED the feature! I think my horn angle was a little off for like half of the show, so I’ll need to fix that for next time, but I think Wicks—that’s my section leader, wait you obviously know that why am I explaining that to you. Yeah, I think Wicks is gonna be really proud of me and Dex and Nursey because we all did so good!” 

Their chatter led them all the way back to the seats where Bitty finally was able to find Jack. To his surprise, Jack spoke first. “Great run out there. You must’ve had a pretty good mello tutor, eh?” 

“Oh yes, I had the best tutor I could find: Mr. Zimmermann. He’s a real professional, a hardass too. Makes me wake up early and everything.” 

“Sounds like his methods worked though.” 

“Maybe they did, maybe they did.” He pauses, turning serious. “Thank you. I really do appreciate you helping me get through season. Without your help, I’d be completely lost.”  
  
“I’m happy too. I wanna win that trophy after all. Plus, ya know, you’re cool. I don’t mind hanging out with you and—“

Before Bitty’s heart could literally burst, Lardo called out, “Team just scored! Y’all know what to do!” 

And just like that, their conversation was tabled and the two jumped back into the world of football. Bitty wanted to know what Jack had to say, but knew it was probably better if he didn’t. He was already half in love with the man; he didn’t need anything to tip the scales even further. 

_X_

Almost more exciting than the game was the hangout afterward. Shitty walked up to Bitty as he was packing up his mello to invite him out for ice cream. “We’re not going to the one next to campus. Fuck that chain. We’re going to this really cool local place that has the best flavors. So mother-fucking delicious that it’s gonna become the only ice cream place you’ll ever wanna go to, bruh.” 

“Oh, I would love to go. Is anyone splitting an Uber?”

“Nah, the seniors have cars. I’m taking Lardo and the Frogs, but if you check with the others they should have room. I know Ransom and Holster are taking a car but there’s no telling who those boys will bring along, so I’d ask quick. Or, Jack drives a pickup like a goddamn weirdo so usually no one ever wants to be seen in that so he should have some room too.” 

“Cool, thanks! I’ll ask around.” Smiling brightly, he headed over to Jack. “Rumor has it, you have an extra spot in your truck.”   
  
Jack laughed. "Your accent is extra strong when you say the word truck.”

Bitty blushed, putting his hands on his hips to try to distract Jack from noticing it. “That’s not an answer, Mr. Zimmermann.” 

“Yes, Bittle, I have room in my truck. But I draw the line at playing country music. Between the truck, your accent, and the music, I might never live that down.” 

That worked for Bitty. This rule meant that he got to introduce Jack to the wonders of Beyonce. It also meant that they were the last two people to arrive to the restaurant because Jack refused to drive more than five miles over the speed limit despite Shitty flying past them at least twenty over. Since they were last, they got to sit next to each other. This night couldn’t be working out better for Bitty. 

Ice cream was a simple affair, mostly Shitty joking around with Jack, Lardo flicking ice cream at Shitty’s hair, Ransom and Holster talking with the two cheerleaders the brought, and Bitty getting roped into a conversation with the Frogs. He was sort of half-listening, half-watching everyone else at the table. Chowder had innocently mentioned that his girlfriend’s roommate had a Twilight poster on her wall, and that sparked a whole werewolf vs vampire debate, which quickly turned into do werewolves/vampires exist, which morphed into should werewolves and/or vampires deserve voting rights. The phrase “voting rights” got Lardo’s attention, and she nudged Shitty, and then it was a table wide debate until the manager finally came over and kicked them out. 

Jack drove Bitty back to his dorm. The whole night had felt like a date, but Bitty came crashing back to reality when they pulled up to the building. _It’d be weird to invite him in, right? I mean I don’t have a roommate so it’s not like it would bother anyone… but we’ve already spent so much time together tonight… No, no I won’t invite him. Don’t make things more awkward than they already are, Bitty._ “Thanks for driving me back.” 

“No problem. I hope you enjoyed your first real show night.”

“Oh, yeah, it was great. Are they always like this?”

“Not always. There’s something special about the first and the last, especially when it’s your last season.” 

“Right, of course.” A pause. “I guess I should get going then.”

“Good night, Bitty.” 

“Good night, Jack.” Feeling brave, Bitty leaned over and gave Jack a hug and tried not to smile when Jack hugged him back. 

He entered the building with one last wave to Jack, sighing when he watched the truck drive away. What a night. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This project is really just me projecting the idealized version of my freshman year onto my deepest source of anxiety sophomore to senior year and I think that's beautiful.


	6. The invite

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I updated the tags to reflect this chapter and the next chapter (aka part two of this chapter)! I meant for it to all be one chapter but like this is getting wildly out of hand. Can you guys tell that I miss being at school and in band?

The semester was passing quicker than Bitty thought possible. He thought that the addition of band in his schedule would make weeks feel like they were dragging on forever, but the opposite happened. Sure, he joined in the middle of the season last year, but he wasn’t putting in this amount of effort last year and he certainly wasn’t hanging out with everybody last year. The band kids were friendly and very welcoming, but he was constantly getting invited to things now. He was even looking forward to each of his rehearsals, proud of the progress he had made with Jack. 

The second performance went smoother than the first, and the third one was even better. By the fourth show, their entire show was complete, a full thirteen minute set complete with props and choreography and a mid-performance costume change by Lardo. It was magnificent. 

But the fourth performance was miraculous for another reason. After seeing (and hearing) how well the mello section performed at the third show, Director Hall wrote a mello feature for the closer. Ten measures long, full of eighth note and sixteenth note runs, matched by no one else on the field. It was exclusively for the mello section. 

It was rare to see Jack genuinely smile; he usually just gave tiny little grins. It was even rarer to see Jack make any reaction, other than a nod, to what the staff said. When the mello feature was announced, Jack smiled wider than Bitty had ever seen. He had even started laughing! Shitty immediately came over to jump on his back and kiss his cheeks and pet his hair, mumbling some nonsense that sounded like “my baby boy finally did it, look at how fast they grow.” All Bitty heard was that the pressure was on now more than ever. 

He and Jack had settled into a pretty solid routine with their sectionals, each one becoming more and more relaxed as Bitty got better and better. This week, though, Jack was tougher than ever before, constantly barking orders, demanding nothing less than the best. It was a harsh reminder that Jack was tutoring Bitty because he wanted the best section prize, not because he actually liked Bitty. It had been so easy to forget that fact over the past month or so; the two had gotten so much closer in such a short amount of time. He spent hours and hours with Jack every day, both in and out of rehearsal. He talked about Jack so much that his parents even thought they were dating! Bitty was sad to have to set them straight, because Jack was straight. Tragic.

Maybe the only thing more tragic than Bitty and Jack was Shitty and Lardo. At least those two knew that the other liked their gender, so what was the hold up? Bitty knew that Lardo has been super into Shitty for the longest time now, and one look at Shitty told him that those feelings returned. They were living in the same house! How could they STILL not be together? 

Bitty wondered this question even more when they came up to him after band practice Wednesday. Lardo curtsied and Shitty bowed, before Lardo handed him a folded piece of paper that Lardo had clearly painted. The paper was an invitation for a party at their house on Friday, the first (and only) Friday band had off during the fall. “Well, thanks, y’all, I’m so flattered, but I don’t know… last time I went to one of your parties that tub juice did something nasty to me.” 

Shitty and Lardo laugh, remembering. “Oh, yeah. Didn’t you hook up with a cheerleader?” 

“Yeah, one who was a GIRL!” The two laughed again. 

“Well, this is not a rager. This is a small gathering of friends who are going to get together for a movie and games and snacks. We were thinking of ordering pizza and maybe grabbing some cupcakes from the grocery store…” 

“Store bought baked goods? No way. I’ll come over and bake a pie.” (Bitty was so distraught over the thought of a store bought pie, he missed the way Shitty and Lardo high-fived each other behind their backs. This was their secret plan all along. Bitty’s pie were legendary.) “How early do you want me over?” 

“As early as you want, Bits,” Lardo replied. “I don’t have classes on Friday so I’ll be home the whole day. The kitchen’s all yours, but just know that Ransom and Holster will probably start bothering you as soon as they smell baking.” 

“I get out of class around three. How ‘bout I swing by after then? Will y’all have baking supplies or should I do a run? I’m not asking for a five star kitchen, but lord help me if it’s just hot sauce again.” 

“Shit, I don’t have a car, and Shitty has class until five, and Ransom and Holster are always super bitchy after their Econ class and take like two hours to cool down… um… we can ask Jack? I think he gets out of class around the same time you do?” 

“Yeah, we’re actually in the same class. I can talk to him.” 

“Cool! Thanks, Bitty!” Lardo leaned in for a hug before realizing how sweaty they both were. Laughing, she just waved and walked away with Shitty. Bitty pretended not to notice how she tugged him by the hand, a thinly-veiled excuse to hold it. 

Bitty looked around the room for Jack, but he was nowhere to be found. Bitty pulled out his phone to text Jack. 

**Heard there’s a party at your place on Friday. I’m baking pies.**

**Will you do a grocery store run w me?**

**I need a car…**

I thought it was supposed to be a small gathering? 

But sure. My last class is our history class.

**Same. We can go straight to the store after class?**

**I need all the time I can get. I’m gonna be making a lot of pies.**

**I’m thinking blueberry, pecan, cherry, apple, and something else.**

**I’ve been tinkering around with this maple recipe?**

**But I don’t know if I should try a new recipe at a party…**

**But even if it’s terrible I’m sure Ransom and Holster will luv it.**

**Sorry, I don’t know why I’m bothering you w all this.**

I think maple sounds good, but I’m also Canadian. 

I’m sure whatever you make will be good.

You’re a good baker, Bittle. 

**Thanks, Jack *blushing smiley emoji***

See you at sectional tomorrow.

_I can’t believe I sent that boy a blushing emoji and he just said “see you tomorroww.” Oh no, what if I made him uncomfortable. Oh no oh no. No, I’m sure Jack doesn’t even know that it’s a flirty emoji. That boy is so clueless when it comes to technology. He’s probably just tired after rehearsal_. 

Bitty was calm until he got a text a little after 10pm from Jack.

I’m canceling sectional tomorrow.

Shit. 

_X_

Bitty was too afraid to ask Jack why he canceled the sectional. He just hoped that Jack would still take him grocery shopping. Thursday was one of the longest days of Bitty’s life; he just kept waiting and waiting for Friday to come so he could see Jack in person. The fear of losing his friendship was really taking a toll on Bitty. 

Jack still nodded at Bitty like he always did when Bitty got to class on Friday, so that was a good sign. Screw it. They only had two minutes until the bell rang, so it was now or never. “We still on for grocery shopping today?”

“Yes. Why wouldn’t we be?”

“Well, you canceled sectionals, so I just wanted to make sure that everything was okay.” 

“Oh, yeah, I had a paper due Thursday afternoon and it ended up taking a lot longer than expected. I had a friend proof-read my draft and there was a lot to fix. Besides, you’ve been doing so great, the sectionals have become more of a play time than anything. All that’s really left is you nailing that feature, but even then you’re basically there. It’s just all about the reps.” 

Of course, Bitty’s two minutes were up before he got to say more. He spent the whole class overthinking what Jack had said. _If he thinks I’m doing great, that’s good. That’s a compliment. But that also means sectionals aren’t necessary anymore. Does that mean he’ll stop doing sectionals with me? Should I just tell him how I feel already? No, Bitty, don’t be an idiot and scare away a good friend by telling him that you have feelings that he can’t ever return_. The bad news about being lost in thought is that Bitty learned nothing, but it did make class go really fast. Jack and Bitty walked to Jack’s car, but Bitty was still very clearly not present. 

Trying to make him feel better, Jack passed Bitty the aux. “Wanna play me some more Beyonce?” While listening to Beyonce sing always made Bitty feel better, seeing Jack jamming out to “Love on Top” really made him smile. Bitty couldn’t help but laugh and join in, both of the boys hopelessly failing to hit the notes throughout the many key changes.“You feeling better? You seemed really out of it during class today.” 

“Yeah, I think I am. I just gotta snap out of it. We have pies to make! Ugh, I haven’t gotten to use a real kitchen in so long, this is so exciting!” 

Bitty was practically bouncing with anticipation by the time Jack parked the car. Stealing a move from Lardo, he grabbed Jack’s wrist the second he got out of the car, tugging him toward the store. It was pie time and no distraction was gonna stand in Bitty’s way.


	7. The grocery store

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is short but i wanted it to stand alone. 
> 
> alexa play hard feelings by lorde

It was nice to be the one telling Jack what to do. He was so used to following orders; it was fun to be the one to give them. Jack, for his part, was a very good soldier. He brought back the exact type of eggs that Bitty asked for and brought three different sugars when he wasn’t completely sure of Bitty’s instructions. Despite them going in together, they spent very little time together, both trying to get every item on the shopping list as quickly as possible. 

About halfway through, Jack got a text from Shitty asking him to pick up snacks because he forgot to get some earlier in the week and he had classes all day. The two boys saved that for the end, deciding it was better to look at snacks together. If left alone, Jack would buy only healthy stuff and Bitty would insist that his pies were more than enough. Neither were expecting such intense debates to arise. 

“Cool Ranch is the best flavor, Bittle.” 

“You’re entitled to your wrong opinion, that’s fine,” Bitty replied, grabbing the Spicy Sweet Chili ones. 

“What do you mean ‘wrong opinion?’ Opinions can’t be wrong! They’re opinions.” 

“Lord, you really don’t know a single meme do you? How was Shitty failed you like this? How could he go so wrong?” Bitty made an exaggerated praying motion before tossing his Doritos in the cart. 

“If you get your pick then I get mine.” 

“Fine, we’ll get both. You, Mr. Zimmermann, are very stubborn.”

“That was harsh for you. I thought Southerners were supposed to be nice?” 

“Oh, hush up and help me find food for our very hungry, not picky at all, friends.” 

In addition to the two bags of Doritos, they threw in a bag of tortilla chips with both salsa and queso (guac was too expensive after getting all those supplies for pies), a bag of chocolates, and a package of golden birthday cake Oreos that Jack tried to sneak in. 

“Birthday cake?” 

“They’re my go-to cheat day snack. Don’t worry, I won’t corrupt the party with them.” 

“YOU eat birthday cake Oreos?” 

Jack looked like he was in pain. “Yes, and I’ve managed to keep it a secret from everybody else, so please don’t tell anyone. Shitty would never let me live it down, and that man knows all of the dumbest shit I’ve ever done.” 

“Okay, okay. I’ll keep it a secret. Is there anything else we’re missing?” 

“Actually, while we’re here, I’m gonna grab a couple groceries. I should only be a minute or so if you wanna get in line. It looks pretty busy up there.” 

Bitty got in line and had unloaded the last of the groceries by the time Jack came back with peanut butter, jelly, bread, and what looked like multiple boxes of protein bars. “Don’t worry, I’ll cover. I can even cover the snacks too, if you just wanna pick up the tabs for the pies. I’ve had a pretty good last two weeks with my job.” 

Bitty hadn’t known that Jack had a job. “Yeah, that’d be great thanks.” They put the divider down, separating the two orders, and then pulled the cart up and started bagging together. 

Jack seemed a little stressed and kept a solid focus on the groceries. Bitty figured that he was just trying to make the most efficient use of the plastic bags since they forgot the reusable ones. That was until he heard the cashier say, “so, Zimms, this your new boyfriend?” 

Jack didn’t look up, but Bitty couldn’t help but blush. At the lack of response, the cashier turned his focus to Bitty. “Short, blonde, probably an athlete. What can I say, he’s got a type.” 

“Excuse me?”

“I don’t think we’ve been formally introduced. I’m Kent, Jack’s ex-boyfriend. We had a rather nasty breakup if you couldn’t tell.” 

Jack still didn’t look up. Bitty felt his face flush and his heart beat and beat and and beat. He didn’t know how to react. He felt horrible that he had picked the lane where Jack’s ex was working. He was shocked that Jack’s ex was a guy. He felt sorry that Jack looked so miserable in Kent’s presence. He felt a little bit happy that Kent thought he was dating Jack, but that was quickly dulled by the realization that Jack had just been outed in a public area, and that wasn’t cool. “Well, Kent, I don’t really think it’s any of your business who Jack dates, now is it?”

“It is when he’s been ignoring my texts.” 

“Parse,” Jack finally interjects, “not here. Not now. I’m just trying to get groceries.”

“Yeah, getting groceries with my replacement! Seriously, Jack? He’s like a carbon copy. Leave this loser and come back where you know you belong.” 

_Rude!_ “Well, Kent, this loser thinks that was very rude. Like Jack said, we’re just here to get groceries. And not that it’s any of your business, but we’re not dating, so will you please just ring us up and let us be on our way? I’ve got food to make.” 

Kent rolled his eyes. “Whatever.” 

The rest of the time in the store was filled with tension. Jack stayed focused on the groceries, handing Bitty his credit card instead of doing it himself. Bitty assumed that he just didn’t want to get that close to Kent again. They leave the store and put the groceries in the car, and they don’t talk about it. They drive to the Haus in silence and they don’t talk about it. Jack unloads all of the bags in one go and drops them on the kitchen table. He quickly leaves the kitchen before Bitty can ask about what just happened. _Guess we’re not talking about it_. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe this monstrosity is going to be my longest work.


	8. The party

Wanting to give Jack his space, Bitty focuses on the pies. He has one done by the time Ransom and Holster come down from their room, and he just gives it to them. He knows they’ll eat the whole thing, but he bought enough ingredients for a couple pies, and he really didn’t have the energy to fight with them about it. They tried to stay and talk to him, but he sent them away. The second his mind drifted, he would think about Jack, and he did not want that. 

He had just put his second pie in the oven when he heard Chowder burst through the front door. “Hi, everybody! I know I’m a little early but the campus shuttles are always flaky at night, and it’s already a bit of a walk from the stop to the Haus, and I was just really excited to see you guys!”

“Hey, Chowder,” Bitty calls from the kitchen. “Ransom and Holster are upstairs devouring a beautiful pie, Jack is in his room sulking, and Lardo is somewhere around here. Haven’t seen her since I got back, actually, which is strange.” 

“Oh.” Chowder made a sad face. “Am I too early then? I brought snacks…” He held up a giant bag of gummy worms. When Bitty didn’t answer, he continued “Dex and Nursey are supposed to bring other flavors…” 

“They’re great, Chowder. Do you want to keep me company while I bake?” Bitty asked out of politeness than anything, wanting Chowder to know he was loved, but not expecting him to say yes. Then Chowder said yes. _Shit. We can make this work. Chowder has a tendency to ramble when he gets excited… let’s just ask him about the Sharks_. Bitty set Chowder up on the kitchen table with very strict instructions to remind Bitty when the timer went off and just let the boy ramble. 

He really liked Chowder; he was probably Bitty’s favorite of the freshman. Nursey and Dex were great, but Chowder was such a sweet kid, and he always poured 100% of himself into everything he did, from keeping goal to talking about the Sharks to telling Bitty that the timer went off. Even if Bitty missed the timer chime, there was no way to miss Chowder jumping out of his seat and yelling “the timer went off! Bitty get your pie!” 

“Thanks, Chowder. My hands are pretty dirty from making pie number three. Do you think you could get it?” 

“Oh, Bitty I don’t know… remember what happened last time you gave me a pie?”

Bitty did remember. The sight of cherry filling on the floor looked oddly similar to blood. “Okay, then, dear. Can you turn the oven off then? It should be fine sitting in there as long as it’s not actively being heated up.” 

“Sure! Is there anything else I can grab for you since my hands are clean?” 

There was a knock at the door. “You could get the door since the actual people that live in this house are no where to be seen?”

Chowder came back with Shitty, Dex, and Nursey. “Shitty?” Bitty questioned. “Why did you knock?” 

“Left my keys in my room by accident. No biggie. Ooh is that pie?”

“Yes it is, and no you cannot have some. I’m behind schedule because your oven is a nightmare. I’m making it work, but seriously, how old is that thing?” 

“If I had to guess, I’d say pretty fucking old. It actually went out a couple days ago when Lardo tried to use it, so good luck.” 

Bitty must’ve shown his distress on his face because Dex chimed in. “If you want, I can take a look at it? I’m pretty handy… I’d need a toolkit but…” he trailed off. 

“Yeah, dude, that’d be ‘swawesome. I’ll go look for a toolkit.” With that, Shitty took off. 

“Chowder, Nursey, would y’all mind hangin’ out on the couch or something? You know what they say about too many cooks in the kitchen.” 

“But we’re not cooki—“ Chowder started to say before he was interrupted by Nursey. 

“No problem, Bitty. Good luck dealing with Dex, though. He’s in a crabby mood; he really needs to chill.” He winked at Dex before throwing an arm over Chowder’s shoulder and leading him into the other room. 

“You okay, Bitty? You seem out of it today,” Dex said, concerned. 

Bitty sighed. “I’ve just had a rough day. I’m just trying to focus on these pies so my mind doesn’t wander. I found out something that I wasn’t supposed to about a friend, and now I can’t stop thinking about it.” 

“Have you tried talking to your friend?”

“No, uh, the friend doesn’t seem to wanna talk about it.”

“I get that. Give them some time to cool off, and I’m sure things will work themselves out. Your friend is probably just embarrassed that they found out.” 

Bitty nodded. “Ya know, Dex, that’s some pretty solid advice. When did you get so wise?”

Dex blushed. “Well, I know that I’m not always the best person to hang around. I can be a little,” he paused, searching for the right word, “I can be a little confrontation sometimes, around certain people. But we always make up in the end. Most of the time, I’m the one that has to cool down and whoever I was talking to isn’t even mad.” 

“Are you talking about you and Nursey?”

Dex sighed. “Mostly, yeah. I feel like he’s always trying so hard to rile me up, but he almost never gets mad, even when I lash out. We had a pretty big fight after Wednesday’s rehearsal, but now he seems pretty over it. I know we should definitely talk about it, but this isn’t the time or place, ya know. It’s a personal issue, not something that I should bring up at a party.” 

“That actually makes a lot of sense. I think I might have to do the same. Give Jack some time to cool off, but bring it up over lunch or something. I’ll just pretend to forget about it for tonight.” 

“Oh, it’s with Jack?”

“Shit. You heard nothing, mister.” Dex nods quickly, a sign that he understands. “Thanks, sugar.” He sighs. “Lord, Shitty is sure taking a while. My next pie is almost done.” 

“Do you want me to take the other one out of the oven?” 

“That’s be great, thanks.” He watches at Dex very carefully takes the pie out of the oven, setting it down with an ease that Bitty didn’t expect. “Actually, since your hands are clean, would you preheat the oven for me?” Dex not only does that, but offers to put the pie in once the oven is at the temperature Bitty needs. Though he’s tough on the outside, this boy was clearly shaping up to be quite the helper. Yes, he’s very confrontational, but he at least acknowledges it. The moment was ruined by Nursey popping for a sec to check in. He grabbed the snapback off of Dex’s head and sent the two of them into a fuss. Some things might never change, but the two of them clearly had their own little system. Based on the way Nursey was smiling and how quick Dex was to react, Bitty suspected that the two of them actually LIKED riling each other up. _What silly boys_. 

Thankfully, nothing got too out of hand because Lardo and Shitty came into the kitchen holding a tool box. “Alright Dex,” Shitty said, “let’s see you work some magic.” 

“Oh, well, Bitty has a pie in there right now and I don’t want to mess with the heating process. But, once it’s done, I’d be happy to take a look. It shouldn’t be much longer now.” 

“Sounds good,” Lardo said. “In the mean time, let’s set up some bowls for the snacks. We’ve got a huge spread of junk food and we’re ordering in a pizza. We’re only ordering plain cheese, no I will not stand to hear an argument against it. Everyone’s topping preferences are too hard to figure out, so the compromise is that no one gets any toppings.” 

Shitty snorted. “Yeah, it’s totally not because you prefer plain pizza to any with toppings.” 

Lardo punched in the arm. “Shut it and help me with the snacks.” 

“Yes ma’am. Frogs, get in here too. Pull your weight!” 

Lardo kept them busy, leaving Bitty alone in the kitchen. He did some dishes as he waited for the pie to finish. He figured two would be enough, but did have enough extra ingredients to make a third pie just in case. When the timer went off, he took at the pie and left it on the counter, with a warning to Dex that nothing better happen to it. 

He left the kitchen, giving Dex plenty of room to do what he needed to do. Right outside the kitchen was Jack, standing almost as if he’d been waiting for Bitty. “Hey, uh, Bittle, can we talk?” Bitty nodded, and followed Jack as he lead Bitty over to his room. “So what happened at the grocery store today… only Shitty knows.” 

“Don’t worry, Jack, I won’t tell anyone about who we saw or what I heard. I’d never reveal a secret like that. I know how scary it can be.” 

Jack looked relieved. “Thank you. I figured that you’d keep it quiet, but it’s nice to hear a confirmation. I just,” he pauses, running his fingers through his hair, “I keep trying to forget about him, but he won’t forget about me. He was a bad decision I made while I was missing Camila and I—I’m not—I don’t”

“You’re not into men, got it.” 

“No, it’s not that. I just regret it being him. I don’t love him, never truly did. I loved that he provided a distraction from the Camila situation, but that’s it. I’m really embarrassed that it ever happened. The Haus all knows that I’m bi, but they can never know about Parse, okay?”

Bitty nodded, unable to speak. _Jack is bi. Jack is bi. Jack is bi. Jack likes men. Jack likes men that are small and blonde. Jack could like me_. “You okay, Bittle? You looked a little spooked. Is it because Parse said that you were my boyfriend? Don’t worry, he was just messing around. I don’t think anyone we actually know thinks we’re dating.” In his head, he laughs thinking about how his own parents thought he was dating Jack. 

“Yeah, wouldn’t wanna tarnish your reputation with someone like me.” 

“What? No, that’s not what I meant. _Crisse_. I was just trying to make sure you weren’t uncomfortable. If anything, you’d be good for my reputation. Not that—oh, never mind.” 

Bitty gave Jack a pity chuckle. “It’s okay, Jack. I understand. Sorry that your secret had to be revealed like this, but I promise you can trust me.” 

Jack nods. “Yeah. I think I really can.” Jack was looking at Bitty with a fond expression, and Bitty knew he was probably staring at Jack with massive heart eyes. The spell was broken when there was a crash somewhere downstairs. “We should probably get down there and check on them.” 

Blushing, Bitty got up. “Yeah, good talk. Thanks Jack,” he squeaked, bolting out of the room and down to where everyone was clustered. Jack was quick to follow.

“Good,” Shitty cried. “You’re both here! Pizza should be here in five. Let’s get this movie night started!” 

Bitty ended up sitting next to Jack on the couch for the movie. He tried his best not to overthink how their thighs touched like they did on game nights, or how they were sharing a blanket, or how Jack kept looking at Bitty during the funny parts to see if Bitty was laughing too. He tried really, really hard not to fall in love with Jack Zimmermann, and hopelessly failed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're finally starting to get more nursey/dex and shitty/lardo hehehehe


	9. The final performance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the band takes the field for the final time this season

Something changed after that party. Jack seemed more smiley at sectionals with Bitty, and not just because Bitty finally got the mello feature under his fingers. Sectionals at this point were mostly goofing off in a practice room for an hour before going to get breakfast. Bitty knew that they weren’t necessary anymore, but it was worth getting up early. He was finally getting everything he had hoped for: he was getting Jack’s sleepy smiles and inside jokes and quality time. Jack had Bitty’s coffee order memorized and Bitty teased Jack about eating the same breakfast everyday and the two fell into such an easy routine. When Bitty first met Jack, he could’ve never imagined anything like this happening, but he’s seen Jack soften as he gets closer to Bitty. They haven’t brought up the Parse incident since it happened, but Bitty is aware of it every single moment. He doesn’t want to assume that Jack is flirting, but his actions certainty feel more flirty than they were before. 

Jack got very invested in Bitty’s posture in the last sectional. That meant Jack was constantly touching his shoulders and elbows, trying to align them in the way he wanted them. This wasn’t anything inherently scandalous; he sees section leaders do it to underclassmen all the time. However, they usually do it with a quick tap, wanting to move on. Jack seemed to linger, as if he didn’t want to let go of Bitty. For his part, Bitty was more than okay with Jack’s hands on his shoulders. He wondered what they would feel like elsewhere. 

At last week’s performance, Bitty had nailed his entire part. It was easily the best performance of his life. After they had rushed off the field, Bitty was swept off his feet by a hug, something he had come to expect from Shitty. He was shocked to see that it was Jack hugging him, praising him for such a great run and thanking him for putting in the extra work this semester. His blue eyes sparkled as he got lost in the fantasy of the best section award. Bitty thought that he had never looked more beautiful. 

Shitty threw a Halloween rager at the Haus and Jack spent almost the whole night talking to Bitty. Bitty listened to story after story that Jack had, even supplying some tales of his own hijinks from his color guard days in Georgia. At one point he even got so drunk that he used a spatula with a jacket tied to it as a flag to perform an old routine. Looking back on it, he was sure it was a mess, but Jack had looked so impressed. 

Bitty himself had been trying to flirt a little more, too. He had taken to sitting closer to Jack in history class, angling himself so their knees could brush. He learned a new maple pecan recipe after Jack had mentioned something about missing the treats he got in a bakery back home. On the rare occasion that Jack made a joke, Bitty threw himself headfirst into it, laughing hard and touching Jack’s arm and making sure to tell that he was “sooo funny!” He was sure that some of the other band kids picked up on the changes in behavior. The other two mellophones kept side-eyeing them whenever the two would talk (flirt?) during practice and Bitty could practically feel Dex staring at him every time he was alone with Jack. Even if Dex didn’t know the details, he knew that something had gone down when they went grocery shopping. 

Bitty didn’t know how to make the first move. He wasn’t sure how much of the “flirting” was real and how much was what Bitty wanted to see. Besides, he knew Jack was super busy right now. It was his senior year, after all. They were coming up to the end of marching season, which meant the end of Jack’s time with the Samwell marching band. Sure, there were other bands in the winter, but none of them were as special as this, and it was likely Jack would be too busy to join those anyway. And if he did, Bitty wouldn’t be there to see it. Soon the season would be over and he would run out of excuses to have sectionals and breakfasts. They were friends now, but he didn’t know how to casually ask Jack to hang out. He just decided to let the whole thing go, throwing himself into his final performance. He knew that after Friday’s show, things would feel different. He knew that after the final band banquet on Saturday that the season was really, truly over. He knew things would change, no matter what. 

Maybe that’s why Bitty felt more nervous for this last performance than he felt for any performance ever. This was his final chance to do what he’s come to love on a field he’s come to love with a bunch of people he’s come to love. He won’t miss the sore muscles and the waking up early and the nitpicky-ness of the staff… except he will, because he knows that he’s gonna do it all again next year. 

But he can’t think about that right now. Right now he has to think about keeping his bell forward and his chin up at fifteen degrees and stepping off with his left foot and remembering the b natural in the mello feature. This is it. Do or die, win or lose. And Bitty’s up against the toughest competition: himself. 

The whole night was a blur, with certain moments standing out. He remembers laughing at Nursey reciting his love poetry to Chowder and Dex, laughing even harder when Dex blushed a deep red. He remembers hugging Lardo tight, thanking her for bringing him into this world. He remembers Jack and Shitty, back on the grass, holding hands and crying. He remembers Ransom and Holster rounding up the seniors to give them a pep talk. Bitty couldn’t hear what he was saying, but it made even the most stoic of seniors teary-eyed. He remembers looking at Jack, wishing him good luck one last time before the run started. He remembers the mello feature, and the smile on Jack’s face after the entire section nailed it. He remembers the roar of the crowd and the brightness of the lights and the piece of grass that got stuck on his shoes and the sound of the Chowder sighing once it was all over. Just like that, it was over. All those months of practice, gone. They would never be this band again. Sure, the underclassmen would come back next year, but there would be new freshman taking the place of the seniors that the band lost. 

Bitty tried to shake off the sad feelings as he walked off the field for the last time. He knew that he should be enjoying the moment, soaking it up while it was still here. Before the game had started, Lardo had explained to Bitty that there was usually a mini celebration during the third period, where everyone was hanging around, enjoying each other’s company while they still could, slowly packing up the props, not wanting it all to be over. It was there that Bitty found Jack. He was calmer than Bitty had ever seen him, with an arm swung around Shitty as he talked with some other seniors. 

When he caught sight of Bitty, he ran over, pulling him into a tight hug, actually lifting him off the ground and twirling him around. Jack was laughing giddily. “You were amazing, Bits! Even if we don’t win the best section award, I know that we’ll have deserved it. We are THE BEST SECTION EVER! You are the best person I could’ve had by my side. You’re gonna be section leader. I know I’m not supposed to say anything until tomorrow, but it’s always been you, ever since that third performance, I knew it was gonna be you.” He pauses, taking in a breath and laughing. “Well, I should go before I do anything else that I’m not supposed to.” He turns away, but Bitty is faster. 

He grabs Jack’s hand, pulling him back to look him in the eye. “What other things are you not supposed to do?” He takes a step closer to Jack. “Is there anything in particular that you had in mind?” He has to push, he has to know.

“Bits…” Jack says softly. “I’m still your section leader and band captain for another 24 hours…” 

“So what does that mean for tomorrow after the banquet then?”

Jack sighs. “You were great out there tonight, bud. Better than I ever let myself hope for. I’ll see you tomorrow night.” Jack walks away, leaving Bitty standing alone, wondering what he did wrong. He looks around for Lardo, hoping to talk this out with her. He finds her over by Shitty. It looks like she’s yelling at him. She has her finger in his face and keeps shoving his chest and looks like she beat him up, honestly. Instead, she grabs his shirt and pulls his down so they’re standing nose to nose. 

The whole band seems to have gone silent, staring at the two of them. Everyone knows that each of them has a giant crush on other; is this gonna be the moment that something finally happens? “So, you’ve got me here… is that it?” Shitty asks. 

“Are you fucking kidding me? Must I do everything myself?” With that, Lardo tugs Shitty even closer, kissing him as if she doesn’t remember that they’re in public. Shitty immediately moves his hands to her waist, pulling her closer to him, as the entire band cheers on the display. Normally Bitty wasn’t a fan of PDA, but he had been waiting for this moment between the two of them for so long that he was willing to make an exception. He joined in with the hooting and the hollering, started by Ransom and Holster of course. 

Sometime in this chaos, Nursey came over and clapped Bitty on the shoulder. “Those crazy kids finally did it, huh,” he said, pretending to be choked up. Wait, on second glance, he might not have been pretending. His eyes were glassy; Bitty had never seen Nursey like this before. He knew he was a secret sap—English majors almost always are—but it was still touching to see it in person. 

He leaned into Nursey. “I’m happy for them. This has been in the works for such a long time. It really lets me believe in love you know.” 

Nursey looked off to the side, staring at something that Bitty couldn’t see. “Yeah, I know exactly what you mean… anyway, I just wanna say thanks for a great season. You were great out there tonight.” 

“Thanks, Nurse. So were you! That trumpet feature was the cleanest I’ve ever heard it despite the new riffs.” (Last week, the staff added a few more bells and whistles to the trumpet feature.) 

“Yeah, we were pretty good, huh? Dex and I repped it like CRAZY this whole week. I guess we are a good team… I should probably go find him and let him know that he didn’t completely suck tonight or whatever.” He waved goodbye to Bitty. 

Once again, Bitty stood alone in the middle of the band, in the middle of a night unlike any other. He went back to the stands for the fourth quarter, but his mind was elsewhere, stuck playing a supercut of the season. He barely even noticed that Jack decided not to sit next to him. 

This was the greatest family he had ever had and he was not ready to let them go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow yall we're at over 14000 words! thats insane! and it took THIS LONG to get shitty/lardo and the other two couples still arent together! as you guys can see, this fic is about to wrap up. ive mapped out the last two chapters and put a set chapter count on the fic. as a teaser, here's what to expect... chapter ten is the banquet and chapter eleven is the epilogue.


	10. The band banquet

Bitty straightened his tie for the thousandth time. Jack was supposed to be here any minute to pick him up, and Bitty was anxious about what was surely going to be the most awkward car ride ever. Jack had agreed to take Bitty to the banquet last week, when everything was shiny and wonderful. But that weird conversation the two had last night might’ve changed things. Bitty’s willing to let it go, since it clearly made Jack upset, but there was definitely some part of him that didn’t wanna forget it. Part of him wanted to push harder, learn what Jack wasn’t supposed to do. Part of him thought that what Jack wasn’t supposed to do was fall for Bitty. 

Bitty checked his phone. No text from Jack. The clock read 6:28, or two minutes before Jack should get there. He gave himself one last glance over in the mirror: hair brushed, tie straight, laces tied. He looked neat and sophisticated and put together. _Whatever happens tonight, just smile through it. It’s been a fantastic marching season. No matter what goes down with Jack, tonight is about celebrating your new friends and your accomplishments on the mellophone_. 

His phone chimed. It lit up with a text from Jack, letting Bitty know that he was outside the building. _Guess it’s go time_. Bitty got in the car with a quick hello to Jack. He didn’t know what to say after their encounter last night. Bitty guesses that Jack doesn’t either because Jack hands him the aux cord without saying a word. He pulls out his “Best of Beyonce” playlist. He taps “Love on Top,” because he knows it’s Jack’s favorite, before setting it to shuffle. Even if the two can’t talk, they’re still comfortable enough with each other to sing in the car together. _That’s a start_. 

The car ride is uneventful, but Bitty is glad to be in the presence of other people when they finally pull up to the banquet venue. The band staff booked a room in some hotel in the next city over. Thankfully, there’s no assigned seating, so Bitty takes a seat next to Lardo, smiling when Chowder plops himself into the chair on the other side of Bitty. His table fills up fast. There’s Bitty and Lardo and Shitty and Jack and Holster and Ransom and Nursey and Dex and Chowder. Bitty was a little worried about Dex and Nursey sitting next to each other. He hoped the boys would behave tonight; it was a special event, after all. This is the last band event for both Shitty and Jack. 

Bitty knew that before they could eat, the staff would talk and awards would be distributed, and new band captains would be picked. However, neither of the band directors were here yet, so the table talked amongst themselves in the meantime. Bitty ended up in a conversation with Nursey, while Chowder and Lardo talked around Bitty. Shitty, Jack, and Holster were having a loud argument about the NHL, while Dex and Ransom were talking about some show that aired the other night. Truly a mess. 

Finally, Director Hall arrived and went to the front of the room to start his end of the year speech. He spoke about how much he had seen all of the members, both new and old, grow throughout this marching season. He spoke about how proud he was of everyone and how this was truly Samwell’s best season yet. He spoke about why he loved marching band and why he wanted to be a director. He ended by calling out the seniors, one by one, and telling a story about their time in the Samwell band. Hall had got to see most of these kids grow for three or four years now; they’ve all improved quite a bit. When he finished, Bitty was misty-eyed, trying hard to keep it together. Shitty, on the other hand, was openly sobbing into Lardo’s shoulder as she held his hand. Even Jack shed a tear. 

Then it was on to awards. Each senior got a little certificate just for being in band, but those who had been in band longer got nicer ones. The students who marched all four years got a plaque. Most of the awards seemed to drag on; Bitty was happy for his friends, but he really just wanted to know about the best section award. He tuned in briefly when his own name was called. He won most improved! 

“And now,” said Director Hall, “time for what has become the most coveted award of the night. The best section plaque, awarded to the section leader of the group that the staff feels has given us the most impressive performances. We’re looking at growth, enthusiasm, difficulty of both music and drill, and, of course, interpersonal team dynamics. This year we have chosen…” he trailed off, pausing for dramatic effect. “The trumpet section! We threw you guys tricky part after tricky part and you quickly learned them and consistently nailed it in shows, which isn’t easy to do with so many newbies in the section. Major kudos to Wicks, who’s only a sophomore. Please, Wicks, come up and accept your award. Can we get a round of applause?” 

Bitty clapped slowly. He was afraid to look at Jack. Over the applause from the crowd, he could hear Shitty trying to comfort Jack, reassuring him that the mellophone section was phenomenal this year and that he was totally robbed. Wicks gave a quick speech about how honored and proud he was to accept this award on behalf of the trumpets. The speech was sweet—Chowder, Dex, and Nursey ate it up—but to Bitty it just felt like rubbing salt in a fresh wound. He knows it’s not Wicks’s fault that the mellos didn’t win, but it still hurt like Wicks was responsible. 

Director Hall took the microphone back once after Wicks was done. “Now, usually that award is the last award before we vote for captains. However, this year we’ve made a new award, one for a band member that we feel stands out from all the rest, one that has gone above and beyond not only this year, but in every year that they’ve been here. A band member that is always a perfect example of how to behave. A band member that we feel has made the most positive impact on this band as a whole. It’s the MVP award. This year, we’ve chosen a very special senior to award this trophy to. When he started his freshman year, he was an excellent player and marcher, but had a bit of a rough time adjusting to the Samwell style of band. However, he was easily elected section leader by his sophomore year and has spent every second since trying to teach the rest of his section how to be better in and outside of marching band. Everyone, please give a huge round of applause for Mr. Jack Zimmermann!” 

Bitty was out of seat applauded before Hall had even finished saying Jack’s full name. Jack himself looked completely stunned. They had created a whole new award just for him. Bitty was smiling so hard his cheeks hurt. 

“Wow,” Jack said, taking the mic from Hall. “Thank you, Director Hall and Director Murray for this award. I’m so honored to be receiving the very first MVP award. Marching band has been my life since my freshman year of high school. I went in as a trumpet player, but switched to mello my sophomore year when the section was too small to make an impact. I wasn’t expecting to like the mello so much, or to try my hand at French horn afterward, but I did. Marching band has always been a place for me to grow, and when I came here I hoped to not only continue growing, but to help other people do so too. Mello section, you have grown so much more than I could’ve hoped for in such a short amount of time. This year presented a new challenge for each of you, but you have all put the time in to work hard and sound good. I’ve been a section leader for seven years now, but you guys have easily been my favorite group to work with. I can’t wait to see what you guys will do next year under the leadership of Eric Bittle. I know you’re gonna be great.” He paused. Bitty wished he knew what was going on in that head. “When I started this year, all I wanted was that best section award. I felt like I deserved it after everything that had gone wrong with the mellophone section last year, and I pushed harder than ever to make this section something great. Instead of getting that award, I got something better: genuine human connection.” He paused to laugh. “I guess you could say that maybe the real best section award was the friends we made along the way.” Ransom and Holster playfully booed at his use of such a cliche. Jack just smiled and looked down at his trophy. “Thank you, Samwell band, for a great four years. Thank you even more for this award. Just, thank you.”

With that he handed the mic back to Hall and headed back to the table. He stopped by where Bitty was still standing. “Pretty sweet trophy, eh?” 

Bitty pulled Jack into a giant hug. Jack froze for a second, but hugged Bitty back too. “I’m so proud of you, Mr. Zimmermann. You deserve that trophy and more.” 

“Thanks, bud. It really means a lot. I, uh, I should go sit back down so Hall can start the band captain voting.” 

“Oh, right, of course.” Bitty let go of Jack, ducking his head so Jack wouldn’t see his blush. He felt Lardo nudge him HARD when he sat back down but he ignored her. 

Director Murray took the mic this time. “That was a great speech, Jack, and also your last speech as band captain. It’s now time for the vote. Would anyone like to nominate either themselves or another member of the band?” 

“I nominate Ransom,” Holster shouted, leaping out of his seat. 

“Well, I nominate Holster,” Ransom quickly followed. 

No one else came forward with any more nominations. “Okay then, we’ve got our two nominees. Everyone put your heads down, eyes closed, no peeking. Now, raise your hand for Ransom.” There was silence as he counted the votes. “Okay you can put them down. Now raise your hand for Holster.” Another pause. “Thank you, you can pick your heads up. For the first time in my years at Samwell there is a 50/50 tie. I don’t want to split you two up and I don’t think the rest of the band would want to either. How would you feel about being co-band captains?” 

“SWAWESOME,” The two boys shouted at the same time, high-fiving each other.

“Let’s have a round of applause for our two new band captains, and let’s eat!” 

The food was delicious. There were two chicken dishes and a carving station and a salad bar and a bunch of tiny appetizers and some of the best rolls that Bitty had ever had. _Now I see why they booked a place so far away from Samwell. This spread is incredible!_ Dinner passed in a happy haze, everyone enjoying the moment. Bitty honestly can’t remember much, except that he ate five rolls. Jack started side-eyeing him at the second one. 

The last forty-five minutes or so of the banquet was dedicated to dancing. Bitty and Nursey hit the dance floor pretty quickly; they were playing Lizzo, how could they not? They were soon joined by the rest of the group as they started to recognize more and more of the songs. Shitty whispered something to Murray (he was in charge of the playlist) before heading out. The only one left sitting down was Jack. That was until “Love on Top” started playing. Shitty must’ve asked Murray for the song! 

Thirty minutes later, the night was winding down. People had already started filing out. The music paused. “Hey, everyone, hate to say this, but this next song is gonna be the last song of the evening and was a request from Mr. Knight.” 

“Halo” started playing over the speakers. Bitty lit up, Shitty smirked, and Jack blushed, staring at the floor. Clearly something was going on that Bitty wasn’t in on. The one time he’d played this in the car with Jack, Jack seemed not to like it, so he had never played it again. So, Bitty was stunned when Jack came over to him with his hand held out. “Wanna dance?” 

Bitty took his hand wordlessly, too stunned to speak. He could feel the entire rest of the group’s eyes digging into his back. He knew they were all openly staring. “I thought you didn’t like this song?”

“Why?” 

“You looked angry the one time I played it in the car.” 

“Ah. Well, when we were driving it was sunset, and the sun made it look like your hair was a halo and then I was angry at myself for thinking that because I was your section leader and band captain and I’m not supposed to think those kinds of things. I never wanted to make you uncomfortable; I never wanted to have a weird power dynamic between us. But now, I’m not section leader anymore. You are. I’m done with the Samwell marching band, which means I’m not your superior anymore, which means…” he trailed off.

Bitty picked up where he left off, “which means now you can dance with me in the middle of a band banquet?”

“Yes.”

“Which means that you can openly flirt with me now?”

Jack swallowed. “Yes.” 

“Which means you could dip me before finally kissing me like I’ve been waiting for this whole time?” 

Jack smiled, pulling Bitty into a dip. “Last chance to back out?” Bitty leaned up as much as he could given the position. Jack met him halfway. The kiss was better than Bitty could have ever dreamed of. The dip, the music, the cheers from his friends, the way Jack’s hand felt in his, the way Bitty knew that he would never get tired of the way Jack kissed. He knew that no band banquet would ever top this one. 


	11. The epilogue

Jack and Bitty fell into an easy routine with their relationship. That’s not to say it was boring. Each of them loved every second together. Marching season was over, but Jack and Bitty still got breakfast together every Tuesday and Thursday and had band kid dinner every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Not much changed now that the two of them were together, except now Bitty got to hold Jack’s hand during movie nights, and Jack made sure to always walk Bitty back all the way to his door. The gang was very supportive of the two of them, even they did like to tease them about it every chance they got. 

“How come y’all always tease me and Jack but never Shitty and Lardo,” Bitty finally asked during one of their hang-outs. 

“Well,” Holster started, “you and Jack are basically always all over each other now so we have a lot of good material. Shitty and Lardo still act exactly the same. I think I’ve seen them kiss twice, though he noogies her more than usual. Plus, Lardo is scary.” 

“Exactly,” Ransom agreed. “You and Jack are softies, but I fully believe that Lardo can and will destroy a man’s life if she wants to.” 

“Cheers to that,” Shitty said playfully, raising his glass. Lardo punched his arm and Shitty acted like it hurts. 

“Hello, nerds, are you ready to see the best movie of all time?” Nursey came bursting in through the front door with Dex and Chowder right behind him. 

“Will you just tell us what we’re watching already?” Dex bitterly asked. Nursey had been talking about how his choice for movie night was “the best movie ever” for a full week now. 

“We’re watching…” he paused for dramatic effect, “…the 2005 adaptation of ‘Pride and Prejudice.’” When he was met with blank stares, he pressed further. “It’s the Kiera Knightley one, not the Colin Firth one.” _Made sense. The English major kid who recited love poetry to calm down WOULD have a “Pride and Prejudice” adaptation as his favorite movie._

“Oh, that’s a good one,” Bitty agreed. They all tumbled into the living room, each grabbing some sort of food to bring over. Bitty took his usual place on the couch next to Jack as Shitty messed with the set-up of the TV, connecting it to Nursey’s laptop. 

Though Bitty had seen this movie before, he was still so easily drawn into the film. He loved the gorgeous nature shots, and the period wardrobe, and everything about Mr. Darcy. Jack kinda reminded him of Darcy. Aloof and unfriendly at first, but a total softie and a really good guy once you got to know him. Plus, they both had that whole dark hair and light eyes combo which Bitty adored. 

Bitty’s favorite scene was near the end of the movie, when Mr. Bennet talks to Elizabeth about her marriage proposal from Darcy, questioning if she really wants to accept his hand in marriage. There was something so wonderful about it. The way she smiles the whole time, the way she emphasizes how she was completely wrong about Mr. Darcy, the way Mr. Bennet starts to cry. He can’t help it; he has to lean in to hear Kiera Knightley’s speech about how she misjudged him so poorly. Bitty isn’t surprised to find that Nursey had also leaned in close, enraptured by his favorite movie. 

What Bitty hadn’t been expecting was to see Dex move forward too, blushing profusely. He mimicked Nursey’s watching position, leaning forward with his elbows on this knees and hands on his face. _Interesting_. 

There was barely a dry eye in the house at the end of the movie. Only Lardo and Jack appeared unmoved, but Bitty knew that Lardo definitely liked the movie. She had never been too fond of Darcy, but she was a sucker for a good happy ending. 

This is where the night usually dwindled down; after the movie had ended people tended to start shuffling out. As expected, Chowder had to leave, apologetically saying that he promised his girlfriend he’d come over tonight. However, no one else moved. It was the first movie night after marching season ended, and the last one before winter break. Sure, they were all gonna see each other at dinners and lunches and breakfasts over the next two weeks or so, but something felt special about this night. 

Jack pulled Bitty close. “I can’t believe we’re almost at winter break. I’m gonna miss you, bud.” 

Bitty smiled. “We still have two more weeks on campus.”

“Yeah, we both have finals. We’re not going to have time to hang out, we’re going to be studying the whole time. Well, I’ll be studying and you’ll pretend to from the seat next to me in the library.”

Bitty made a mock offended face, opening his mouth like he might say something, before he closed it with a sigh. “You’re probably right, Mr. Zimmermann, but that means I will be being a good boyfriend by keeping you company.” Bitty smiled. “Your boyfriend.” They had been together for a couple weeks now, but he never got tired to saying it. He had a boyfriend!

“And you are the best boyfriend,” Jack replied. “I think—I mean know,” he paused, looking around the room. The rest of the gang had filed out at some point leaving just Bitty and Jack. “I know it’s too early for this, but Bitty I love you, and I know you might not be there yet but—“

“Oh, Jack, of course I love you too! I’ve been in love with you this whole entire time. Probably since that first dumb sectional.” He wipes a tear from his face; Jack pretends to not see it. 

“Those sectionals weren’t dumb. Eric, you’re a phenomenal player now. That doesn’t happen without tons and tons of practice, and you got there in just a semester. That’s why you’re section leader for next year.” 

“I think you might be a little biased. After all, I did kind of sleep my way to the top.” 

“I gave you that award way before I was ever in your pants.” 

“Yeah but you WANTED to be and that’s what’ll count."

"Sometimes section leader isn’t always the best player, but rather the one that the team will rally around. There’s not enough mellophones to really split the parts, so I’m not worried about who’s going to play first and who’s going to play second. We don’t have first and second. What we do have is a part that needs to be played in unison; typically section leaders are the strongest and the loudest, but I knew Brad wasn’t going to be a great section leader. He’s a great player, but he puts in almost no effort and looks miserable half the time. That’s not going to inspire new players to get better. But you? You’re going to inspire the hell out of them.” 

Bitty had forgotten how passionate Jack gets when he talks about music. He hadn’t seen a speech like this since the very beginning of the season. He now remembers why he was willing to put up with all the sectionals. It was partially because of his own motivation to do better, partially because of his crush on Jack, but mostly because the thought of letting Jack down after his “I want the best section award” speech hurt. It was Jack that had inspired Bitty; Bitty hoped to inspire people like that next year. 

“Thank you, Jack. I’m not sure I know just how to be a good section leader yet though… I might need some help. Maybe a sectional or two about how to control freshman, and actually learn the names of the rest of the mellos because I had no idea that we had a Brad in our section.” 

Jack laughed. “Of course. I would love that. You do mean after break though, right?” 

“Oh, yes. If I’m waking up early during finals season it’s to cram.”

“Cool. Should we go find the rest of our friends now?”

“We could… or we could go look at the stars on the roof?”

“Shitty’s room is the only one that connects, and I have a feeling he and Lardo are in there right now, but there’s always the porch?” 

The two walk out to the front door. The scene waiting for them when they open the door is shocking. Bitty has never been more surprised in his life. On the front porch are Dex and Nursey, caught in a passionate lip-lock, Nursey’s hands tight in Dex’s hair and Dex’s hands gripping Nursey’s shirt. They’re so lost in each other that they don’t even notice Bitty and Jack. 

Slowly, Jack closed the door, grabbing Bitty’s hand. “Let’s leave them be. We can see the stars from the backyard.” 

“I just… I can’t… but they… how… they hate each other?” 

“Lizzy hated Darcy at first, did she not? I guess they both had a lot to learn about the other. Come on, let’s go outside.” 

Bitty lets himself be tugged outside, still shocked about what he had seen. He was definitely gonna unpack that with both Dex and Nursey at some point. But for now, he settled onto the grass next to Jack, curling up against his side. He could smell weed from somewhere, which meant Shitty and Lardo were on the roof. Considering the absence of both Ransom and Holster, they were probably up there too. He looked up at the stars and the moon, grateful to have all of his friends, a man he loves, and such a beautiful night. And to think, this all started because Camila Collins dropped out mid-season. He might just have to thank that girl one day. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this is it! If you're reading this, thank you so much for sticking with me throughout this mess. When I first started, I expected to write about 10,000 words, but as we can see I wrote over 18,000. Marching band has been a huge factor in my life for so long... this fic feels like a final goodbye to it, and I guess I really just wasn't ready to let it go. 
> 
> I hope you like the ending that I came up with. I think each of these characters earned their happy ending.


End file.
